`Yes, Prime Minister` A Funny Poke At Politics

January 12, 1988|By JOHN J. O`CONNOR, New York Times News Service

The few more notable attempts to poke fun at American politics and politicians have been decidedly off target.

A couple of years ago, Hail to the Chief gave us Patty Duke as the first female president of the United States. On Fox Broadcasting`s Saturday lineup, Mr. President offers George C. Scott as the nation`s chief executive, complete with adorable family.

In at least one outstanding instance, the British sitcom has proven infinitely more adept on the subject of politics. Yes, Prime Minister (8:30 p.m. Sunday, A&E), produced and directed by Peter Whitmore, was made in the early 1980s and has been on U.S. TV schedules for a while.

Created and written by Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, the show revolves closely around only three characters: Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington), a member of Parliament who has just been appointed minister for administrative affairs; Under-Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne), a permanent pillar of the Civil Service who, over the decades, has seen ministers of all political persuasions come and go; and Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds), Hacker`s personal secretary but, as a Civil Service employee himself, with somewhat divided loyalties.

The basic situation is not difficult to grasp: The new minister has all sorts of ingenious plans for reforming the running of government. The imperious Appleby and other civil servants are determined to keep their jobs intact. They spend much of their time trying to foil Hacker or, as they see it, keep him out of harm`s way. In the end, nothing is as clear-cut as it may have seemed.

Playing Hacker, Eddington concocts a wonderful blend of ineffectual do- gooderism and touching decency. And Hawthorne is positively wicked as the infuriating Appleby. Tackling unusually complicated issues, digging beneath surfaces with amiable but withering cynicism, Yes, Prime Minister is as current as today`s headlines and far funnier. Politics can, after all, be hilarious.